This morning I woke up in frost-bitten Vermont to an email from Subaru:

Hello Dawn,
You are receiving this notice because your reimbursement in the amount of $4,354.95 has been processed and will arrive within 7 days.

Ah, the power of imploring! Thank you all so much; I would never have believed that writing a letter would have resolved the issue so thoroughly.

This morning's email was a fine complement to our cheerful road trip. Yesterday I moseyed around a plant nursery with my mom while my dad and my son went to a cider tasting. We had a lovely loud dinner with my sister and her family, and then played rude and riotous Parcheesi. Today we will watch my nephew compete in a track meet, and tomorrow little Tina the Subaru with a Free Transmission will chug us down the road to our next destinations.